Mine was 'What's Cooking' by Eva Batt. It was first published nearly 40 years ago and was my culinary bible for awhile. It seems very dated now in terms of what I cook, but I still flick through it to marvel at the recipes I once produced

i can't recall which one was my first. i had a few vegetarian ones, and then some crappy little vegan ones that i never used (they were gifts, i believe). the first decent one that i remember owning was Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson, which i still have, albeit in another country.

edit: oh, wait! it was Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler! granted some of the recipes call for honey, but close enough - i think that issue was still under debate when my mom got it for me in the 90s.it's a decent book, but it led me to believe that using tofu was the only way to make vegan baked goods. it was Vegan Planet and VWAV that really got me interested in the possibilities of vegan food.

_________________vegan cheese bigamy is not allowed. - LisaPunk

So today at PPK I learned how to fork up a falafel and a taco. - craiger_ny

VWAV when I was in high school and it had just come out. I was just browsing my local independent bookstore's vegan cookbook selection, but I had no idea how good of a decision I was making at the time by buying VWAV.

I went vegetarian in the dark ages before internet. This is probably why I mostly cook NOT using recipes. My first vegetarian cookbook was a Swedish (?) book about world food printed in the late 80s. The first vegan cookbook I owned was The Garden of Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. There are actually quite a few good recipes in that one even though I rarely use it these days.

My first vegan cookbook was "Vegan cooking for one", and then I got "Witch in the kitchen" (vegetarian), and "Cooking by the seasons" (also vegetarian).I made two things out of Vegan cooking for one, one I loved and one I hated, so I should give it another chance.

_________________I dunno, I guess I just get enthused over eating big ol' squishy balls. - Interrobang?!

How It All Vegan...my mother purchased it for my husband, actually, and I wasn't even vegetarian at the time. It was one of the books that brought me over to the dark side.

_________________Did you notice the slight feeling of panic at the words "Chicken Basin Street"? Like someone was walking over your grave? Try not to remember. We must never remember. - mumblesIs this about devilberries and nazifruit again? - footface

My age is really going to show here - A Good Cook ... Ten Talents by Frank and Rosalie Hurd. Primarily vegan (honey for sweetening, plus a small section of recipes using eggs/milk in the back) and first published in, are you ready for it, 1968!

A friend let me borrow Veganomicon. I wasn't vegan when I borrowed it, but I was by the time I returned it.

_________________My last Craigslist ad "Bangable Panda for You" got only a few responses and they all just said 'send pic' or 'black and white or red?' - pandacookieI don't want anyone here who doesn't know every forking line to Willy Wonka. - Fee

My first vegetarian cookbook was this:I bought it at a weird hippie store, and it STILL reeks of incense. I would spend hours flipping through and looking at all the recipes and photos, saying "look at all the things I can eat!" But I had no idea how to cook back then, so I never made a thing from it! It does have a little FAQ on being vegetarian which I found helpful, because I was so clueless at that point.

My first vegan book was either or (I'm trying to remember if this one is vegan... I think it might have some honey in it, but I think it's vegan other than that.).I had to order How it all Vegan through a catalog, and New Farm I got on a trip back to the weird hippie store. I'm not sure which one was first.

The Vegan Cookbook by Baskerville and Wakeman, because it seemed like it covered all the bases (easy moving to fancy/time consuming for starter, main course, pud and sundries, plus the obligatory nutrition section). I only cooked about 3 or 4 things out of it as it's a bit wholefoody for me but I hang onto it for sentimental reasons.

_________________"Like a wonky bourbon stonehenge. But in a good way." - Disappearing Ink

Mine was How It All Vegan - not just my first vegan cookbook, but my first cookbook in general. That thing (interspersed with me shouting up questions to my mom upstairs in her office) taught me how to cook! I hardly ever use it anymore, but I still have my tattered and splattered copy. The mushroom barley stew was my favorite recipe, so SO good!

VWAV was my first actual Vegan cookbook. I love it and still cook from it often. In fact, I think i found the PPK through the book, Isa mentiones it in the back I think.

I had a few vegetarian cookbooks, (that sucked) when i was vegetarian. Rachel Ray's vegetarian meals was terrible, and a couple of crappy 'beginner vegetarian' books.

I also have one of the Mooswood books, the quick and easy one. And although it is not vegan or even vegetarian (it has fish) it was a great starter book, and i still use it. The best of the ones I bought when i went vegetarian (I have been 100% dietary vegan for the last 3-4 years)